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Durban’s Travis Logie recorded his career best result in an ASP World Title Series event when he placed third in the Billabong Pro Tahiti which was won by reigning and 10-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) in classic two metre waves at Teahupoo in French Polynesia yesterday (Monday).

Meanwhile fellow South African Jordy Smith retained his ASP No. 2 ranking despite being eliminated by Logie in a re-run Round 3 heat after Smith suffered a dislocated rib in powerful three metre surf on Sunday.

Logie, 32, ranked No. 44 prior to the event and desperate to make the top 32 cut-off before 15 September that would enable him to compete in the World Title race for the last five events of the year, received a late call-up following the withdrawal of Bobby Martinez (USA).

Encouraged by his wife, Logie flew from Europe, where he was competing in the Star and Prime rated events, to Tahiti, arriving without surfboards and riding, and breaking, several of good friend Alan Riou’s boards as he progressed through the event .

Logie’s fairytale run to the semifinals saw him win his Round 1 heat over fourth seed Jeremy Flores (FRA) and Jadson Andre (BRA) to advance directly to Round 3. There he lost in the injury affected heat against Smith which the ASP decided to re-run and Logie, himself suffering from cuts, bruises and a strained AC shoulder joint resulting from a wipe-out during the heat, won through to Round 4.

Victory over Brett Simpson (USA) and Chris Davidson (AUS) in the three-man ‘demo’ round heat saw Logie skip Round 5 and progress directly to the quarterfinals. On the final day of the event he again defeated Simpson to reach the first semifinal of his five year career in ASP Title Race events, before meeting his match against in form Australian Owen Wright.

“It’s been an unbelievable week for me,” Logie said. “I don’t think it has all sunk in yet. I was in Europe, I barely made it here in time, I’ve been on borrowed equipment, I’ve been banged up on the reef, I had a re-surf with my good mate Jordy (Smith) and I’ve also scored the best result of my career. It’s all happened very fast. So yeah, I’m happy with how everything’s worked out, but would have liked to have made that Final.”

Logie is now ranked No. 34 and right on the cusp of re-qualifying for the elite tour when the ASP mid season rotation is implemented after the Quiksilver Pro New York, surfing’s first event to offer US $1 million in prize-money, which runs from 4-15 September. He will be hoping that the carnage suffered by the top 32 surfers in the phenomenal surf in Tahiti will enable him to get an injury-replacement spot in that event and to force his way into the top 32.

Smith entered Tahiti ranked No. 2 and briefly held the No. 1 spot in the 2011 ASP World Title rankings when the then No. 1, Joel Parkinson (AUS), was eliminated from the event in Round 2. However, the controversial re-run of his Round 3 heat against Logie robbed the 23 year-old, who now lives in Cape Town, of the opportunity to extend his rankings lead and he was ultimately overtaken when Slater won the event.

Smith is reportedly in America for diagnosis on his rib injury. Similar injuries can take four to six weeks to recover which would see him miss the next two events in New York and at Trestles in California during September

Slater, ranked No. 6 before Tahiti, benefited from the early elimination of Parkinson, Smith, Taj Burrow (AUS) and Flores to leapfrog them all into the rankings lead thanks to his haul of 10 000 precious points for the victory.

“It’s one of those weird events where you have to scramble through the early rounds,” Slater said. “Every year at this event, there are few of the top guys that lose in the early rounds and you have to scramble if you want a result here. You have to be in tune with the tides, swell direction and everything to make sure you get those waves that get you the score.”

The Billabong Pro Tahiti experienced what is being called the best surf in the 14 year-history of the event. Pristine two metre waves set the scene for Round 1 before huge and unruly waves provided a stiff test for Round 2.

The French Government then issued a Code Red alert for Saturday, keeping all commercial craft in the harbour, which resulted in some of the biggest waves ever seen at Teahupoo being surfed by specialist tow-in teams who had jetted into the South Pacific island specifically for the occasion.

Sunday saw Rounds 3, 4 and 5 being held in what Slater called “…probably the best I’ve ever surfed it – it’s just so big and perfect.” Windless conditions bright sunshine and incredibly hollow two to three metre (6 – 10 foot) waves provided the world’s best competitive surfers with ideal conditions.

The final day was held in still perfect but slightly smaller 2.0 to 2.5 metre waves that continued to pump all day.

Flores, who became just the third surfer at elite tour level to record a perfect heat of 20 points out of a possible 20 on Sunday morning, collected the coveted Andy Irons Award for most committed performance of the event. This is the inaugural year for the award which honours the late Andy irons (HAW), the three-time ASP World Champion and last year’s Billabong Pro Tahiti Champion.

Every ride from the Billabong Pro Tahiti can be viewed at www.billabongpro.com, along with news, images and results from each day’s action, including the tow-in sessions.

About ASP: The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the recognized world governing body of professional surfing and has been crowning surfing’s undisputed World Champions since 1976. The ASP sanctions and crowns World Champions for the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, ASP World Junior Tour, ASP World Longboard and Masters Championships.
The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts and other media platforms. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Japan, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.

Surfers Corner on Muizenberg Beach will again be the venue for the fifth annual edition of the Earthwave Beach Festival where surfers will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘most surfers riding the same wave’ which they set at 110 in 2009.

The 2011 edition of the hugely popular festival that showcases the beach lifestyle and promotes sustainable lifestyle choices will be run on the weekend of 1 & 2 October. Activities include Longboard surfing and Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) events, plenty of fun-filled beach activities and exhibits and demonstrations of environmentally friendly products and services alongside talks on climate change and environmental issues.

“Thanks to assistance from the Muizenberg Partnership we’re expecting an even bigger and better Earthwave Beach Festival this year. We’ll be going all out to increase the Guinness World Record that currently stands at 110 surfers riding the same wave set at Earthwave 2009,” said Paul Botha from Kahuna Promotions, the organisers of the festival.

“As in previous years we have challenged other surfing organisations worldwide to run an Earthwave festival and use the tremendous interest in Guinness World Records to raise awareness of climate change and what can be done to reduce our impact on the planet in their countries.”

“Earthwave Brazil, the previous record holder with 100 surfers on a wave and our closest rival, has confirmed their next attempt will be at Quebra Mar, Sao Paulo at the beginning of September, so we will know exactly what is required to overtake them long before our attempt.”

In addition to the record-breaking attempt, Earthwave 2011 will provide plenty more action in the ocean, on the beach and at the renowned after-party. There will be heaps of give-aways, raffles and competitions like Dig for Gold offering prizes worth tens of thousands of Rands and the festival will end with a charity auction for worthy causes, live music and give-aways on the Sunday evening.

As the festival grows in size and stature, the organisers invite the participation of companies and organisations keen on displaying or demonstrating their environmentally friendly products and services. By leveraging the extensive media coverage and publicity, Earthwave provides an ideal forum for promoting sustainable lifestyle choices to a receptive audience.

The organisers also invite suggestions for attempts on other Guinness World Records that could be run at the festival.

South Africa’s best junior surfers aged 20-and-under will be vying for coveted invitations to compete on the 2011 ASP World Junior Tour when the Billabong Pro Junior event is run at Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape next week.

Scheduled for Thursday to Sunday, 1-4 September, the event is the second and final stop on the 2011 ASP Africa Pro Junior Series where the top four surfers in the year-end rankings qualify to take on their peers from around the globe in the three-event World Junior Tour with the winner crowned the ASP World Junior Champion in Sydney, Australia in January 2012.

Competition will be fierce with a total of more than R50 000 in prize-money at stake next weekend of which US $5 000 (approx. R35 000) is on offer in the ASP 1-Star rated Pro Junior men’s event. Nearly R14 000 will be shared by the top four in the SSA sanctioned Pro Junior Women and Under 16, U14 and U12 boy’s Pro Surf Tour (PST) events and an additional R2 000 goes to the winner of the VonZipper Air Show.

And all four finalists in each division, from U12 to Pro Junior, will also receive a limited edition Sony Trik to the value of R2 400.

Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) leads the ASP Africa rankings after the first event in Durban in April. De Vries, Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh) in second position and Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) and Michael February (Kommetjie) in equal third, are the front-runners for the ASP World Junior Tour slots.

Dale Staples (St Francis Bay), who finished third on the ASP World Junior Tour rankings in January this year, fellow Billabong team rider Matt Bromley (Kommetjie), David van Zyl (Glenashley) and Matt Pallet (Bergvliet) are ranked equal fifth and need a top performance at Victoria Bay to force their way into contention for one of the four slots available.

The Billabong Pro Junior men’s event will also create history when a trio of Ghanaian surfers – Clement Baidoo and brothers Peter and Emmanuel Ansah – participate in a surfing event in South Africa for the first time.

Vic Bay local Bianca Buitendag (George), winner of the Billabong Pro Junior Women’s World Championships in Australia in January, heads a competitive field in the women’s event at her home break. Buitendag, who has already qualified for the 2011 ASP Pro Junior Tour via her ASP World Women’s Tour ranking, will be up against the likes of Billabong team rider Emma Smith (Jeffreys Bay), Heidi Palmboom (Bluff), Nikita Kekana (Durban) and Inge McLaren (East London).

Josh Smit (Warner Beach) is the top seed in the U16 boy’s, the biggest division of the event, with Dylan Lightfoot (J-Bay), Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) and Brandon Benjamin (Retreat) capable of causing an upset.

Jordan Maree (Tokai) will be up against perennial rivals Matt McGillivray (Port Elizabeth), Adin Masencamp (Strand), Ethan Fletcher (Kommetjie) and Shane Sykes (Salt Rock) in the U14 division while Fletcher and Masencamp will also do battle with brothers Jake and Max Elkington from Cape Town, amongst others, in the U12’s.

The spectacular VonZipper Air Show, where the surfer successfully completing the most innovative aerial manoeuvre pockets the winner-takes-all R2 000 prize-purse, will be staged on the final day.

The customary vibrant social scene at the Billabong Pro Vic Bay event will be substantially upgraded this year when Jeremy Loops, one of Cape Town’s hottest up and coming musical talents, performs live with friends at the Saturday evening Bring-and-Braai in the Caravan Park.

The internationally rated Pro Junior men’s event is sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for ASP International, while the Pro Surf Tour (PST) women’s and boy’s events are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport.

Images, results and news from the Billabong Pro Junior Vic Bay will be available daily at www.billabong.com.

South African surfers Travis Logie and Jordy Smith won their respective Round 1 heats in the Billabong Pro Tahiti, which started in epic 1.5 to 2 metre waves at Teahupoo on Saturday, to move directly into Round 3 of stop No. 5 of 11 on the 2011 ASP World Title season.

Logie, 32, currently No. 44 on the ASP World Rankings, gained entry into the Billabong Pro Tahiti at the 11th hour with the withdrawal of Bobby Martinez (USA). The Durbanite embarked on a white-knuckle trip from Europe to Tahiti, showing up with less than 10 hours before his heat and without any of his surfboards or equipment.

“I got the call about 24 hours ago from Renato Hickel (ASP World Tour Manager) and got on the next plane from Europe,” Logie said. “I was over there competing in the 6-Star events and opted to take the opportunity in Tahiti. I don’t have any boards or any equipment so I used my good friend Alain Riou’s board his morning and it felt pretty good.”

Smith, 23, the current No. 2 on the ASP World Title Rankings, kept his 2011 campaign red-hot today, putting on a commanding backhand performance en route to his Round 1 victory. The Capetonian was enthusiastic with today’s conditions and excited for the swell on the horizon.

“I’ve been here most of the day and I’ve just been psyching to get out there,” Smith said. “It’s so much fun – just perfect, blue barrels. I’m so happy to be here in Tahiti and the forecast looks pretty amazing. We’ll see how it pans out.”

Smith’s two wave tally of 15.36 was the ninth best of the day and enough to relegate trials winner and wildcard Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) and Raoni Monteiro (BRA) to Round 2.

American CJ Hobgood, the 2001 ASP World Champion and 2004 Tahiti event winner, was the top scorer of Round 1, racking up a near perfect score of 9.87 (out of 10) before adding a 9.50 for a heat total of 19.37 to defeat current ASP World Title Race No. 1 Joel Parkinson and fellow Australian Adam Melling.

Kelly Slater (USA), 39, reigning and 10-time ASP World Champion, was at his usual polished best, remaining patient to score a winning wave on the buzzer against opponents Dan Ross (AUS) and dangerous local wildcard Heiarii Williams (PYF).

Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, predict plenty of swell for the next week. A medium SSW swell will maintain through the weekend to be followed by another medium size South swell for early next week. A major swell event is forecast for 25 & 26 August with potential for even more swell by the 28th.

Event organizers will reconvene on Sunday morning at 6:30am (6.30pm South African time) to assess conditions for a possible 7:30am start (7.30pm in SA).

About ASP: The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the recognized world governing body of professional surfing and has been crowning surfing’s undisputed World Champions since 1976. The ASP sanctions and crowns World Champions for the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, ASP World Junior Tour, ASP World Longboard and Masters Championships.
The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts and other media platforms. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Japan, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.